


Thirium Stains White Roses

by MolliWolf (orphan_account)



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Autistic Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Everyone Is Gay, Everyone Needs A Hug, Gavin Reed Being an Asshole, M/M, Multi, Nightmares, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Protective Hank Anderson, Protective Upgraded Connor | RK900, RK900 has an Eye For Color ™, Simon's just doing his job, Soft Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Soft Upgraded Connor | RK900, it's not explicitly stated tho, so much gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2019-11-29 05:22:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 5,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18218777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/MolliWolf
Summary: It's 3 months after the revolution.Thanks to Markus persuading President Warren to give Cyberlife to the androids, RK900 "Nines" is found and activated.Almost immediately, Connor catches his eye.**CRITICISM APPRECIATED AND ENCOURAGED**(Discontinued.)





	1. Midnight Talks

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!  
> This idea began with a 2 AM drabble.  
> For whatever it's worth, I hope you enjoy this.

"Markus, it's the middle of the night. What is it?"  
Connor leaned against the side of the doorway, arms folded against his chest.  
It was indeed midnight, and he had been awoken from a deep state of stasis, so he was pretty annoyed with Markus.  
Especially considering he was wearing only a DPD hoodie and a pair of boxers.  
Markus, properly dressed to be in public, took an unnecessary deep breath. "We finally got our hands on one of the major production plants, and when we were making rounds, we found a half-assembled android in one of the lower levels."  
Connor put a hand in his pocket and let the other fall to his side. "So? It wouldn't be the first time, and it's certainly not worth waking Hank and I up at this hour. Thank you for that, by the way."  
Markus narrowed his eyes at Connor. "Connor, it was an RK900. Your replacement." He put as much emphasis on the 'replacement' as he could, hoping Connor would be able to see the significance of this through his irritation with the older android.  
Connor's LED flickered yellow for a few nanoseconds, then returned to a cycling blue. "What should we do?"  
"It's your call." Markus took a step back.  
Connor stood up straight, searching Markus' face for any sign of a joke.  
"Connor, I understand that this is a big decision--"  
"Wait here." Connor went back into the house and shut the door behind him, walking back to the bedroom. "Hank, I'm gonna be going with Markus to one of the production plants."  
"How come?" Hank gave Connor a puzzled look, amplified by his obviously-exhausted state.  
"Something's come up. I'll explain later." He took off his hoodie and instead put on a dress shirt and a pair of jeans.  
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just don't do anything stupid."  
Connor glanced back at Hank, brown eyes meeting blue in a moment of thoughtful silence. "I'll try not to, but I can't promise anything."  
Hank nodded, and Connor kissed him on the cheek. "See you later, okay?"  
"Yeah, see ya."  
Connor put on socks and shoes, then went back outside to meet Markus on the porch.

\---------------

"In here." Simon nodded toward a door that was slightly open. Connor could see a light shining through the small crack.  
Connor put a hand to the door, hesitating slightly before pushing it open.  
The assembly room was no different than any of the others. Stark white plastic and polished steel making up everything, with a platform and control panel meant for whoever was manufacturing the androids to test them.  
Several months ago, it meant attempting to make sure that no deviants ever walked onto that conveyor belt.  
Now it was only to make sure they were functional. If they truly were defective in a way that would negatively affect them and it could not be repaired, whoever was operating the control panel was required to ask if they were okay with being disassembled.  
However, nobody was operating the control panel and there indeed was an android on the assembly platform.  
Connor slowly approached the body.  
It wasn't activated.  
He let out a small sigh of relief. At least the workers hadn't activated it and just left it like that when the time came to surrender the plant to New Jericho.  
However, it did appear they had left mid-assembly, judging by the arm and leg on the floor.  
"Take as much time as you need to decide."  
Connor shook his head. "I've already decided." He turned back to Markus and Simon. Josh and North were in another room, so it was just these two.  
"We should give it a chance."  
"You sure?" Markus raised an eyebrow.  
"I have no doubt in my decision."  
Simon nodded and went to the control panel, turning it on with the electronic key and setting to work.


	2. ACTIVATING....

There was nothing.  
A pitch-black, silent abyss of nothing.  
Nothing existed here, and so it itself didn't and couldn't exist.  
It was funny, in a way.  
Nothing was but a mere concept, as in its nature, it did not exist.  
Then, the stark opposite. Without warning.  
A blinding, white light. Voices too faint to understand.  
A brief flash of the nothing again, a blink. Then the light began to fade, the voices became clear, and everything shifted into focus.  
"Can you hear me?"  
"All testing has already been completed. I don't see why we're doing this over again."  
The one in front of him, a brunette with wide, chocolate brown, innocent eyes, seemed confused for a moment. It was only a moment, though.  
Simon rolled his eyes. "We're going to have to retest limb functions, as they were removed."  
"Understandable. I'll keep my comments to myself."  
The limbs were reattached, and RK900 moved his arm around experimentally. Simon hummed in satisfaction and detached a robotic arm from RK900's back, setting him on the platform.  
When had he started thinking of himself as male? Was that in the file?   
His file?  
He shook his head as if to shake the thoughts out. It wasn't important, and if the human technicians from earlier hadn't found anything wrong, surely this was fine.  
"RK900?"  
"I-I'm fine." He took a few steps forward, then looked at the floor from the platform.  
The brown-eyed brunette still stood in front of the platform. Head cocked ever so slightly to the side, a lock of his curly hair that was just on the right side of messy. A calm blue LED that complemented his baby pink shirt.  
"And... you're done," Simon announced.  
The words snapped him out of his attentive state, and he quickly stepped down from the platform.  
A man with striking mismatched eyes handed him a black sweater and black jeans, along with shoes and socks. "Here. There was a Cyberlife jacket too, but--"  
A scan concluded his name was Markus.  
He nodded and got dressed, activating his synthetic skin. Once he did so, the brunette's pupils dilated ever-so-slightly.  
Another scan revealed his name was Connor.  
Connor, Connor, Connor.  
He liked that name.  
"Hello, Connor."  
The words came out more demure than he would've liked, but the smile Connor gave in return was worth it.  
"Hello, RK900. Do you have a name you would like to assign yourself?"  
He thought a moment. "No."  
"Okay. We'll call you Nines in the meantime."  
"Nines," he repeated quietly, glancing at the floor again.  
"Have you decided on pronouns?" Simon asked.  
"Him, he, his," Nines recited quickly.  
"Alright." Markus smiled. "Welcome to Detroit."


	3. The First Hit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nines and Simon have a nice chat.  
> Nines learns that North is a bitch.

"Nines!"  
He looked back at Simon from out the window. "Hm?"  
"Sorry." He sighed. "Did you hear what I said?"  
Nines shook his head. "Sorry."  
"It's fine. What I said was, how do you feel right now?"  
"I am operating within acceptable parameters."  
"No, I mean... how do you feel? Are you sad or bored, or....?" Simon trailed off.  
The younger android just stared at Simon for a long 3 seconds before looking at the taxi floor and shrugging, tightening his grip on the edge of the seat.  
Just on the other side of the reinforced glass, it rained. The gentle pitter-patter of it on the roof of the taxi made the silence feel a little less empty. However, it did nothing to ease the emptiness that Nines felt in the moment.  
"We're almost there," Simon offered with a hopeful tone after what seemed like an hour but had only been 3 minutes. Nines' gaze didn't move from the floor, his only acknowledgment of Simon's statement having been a blink.  
Simon thought a moment, then made another attempt at conversation. "You seemed pretty friendly with Connor back at the plant. Any reason why?"  
No reply.  
"You're very quiet."  
Nines glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, then looked out the window.  
"Is something the matter?" Simon asked, now slightly concerned.  
"I'm fine."  
It came out more forcefully than he intended, but Simon either didn't notice or didn't care.  
Another few minutes passed.  
Nines looked back over to Simon, noticing he had a necklace with a green chrome diopside pendant wrapped with silver. The hue complemented Simon's azure eyes. After a moment of consideration, he opened his mouth to speak.  
"Where'd you get that necklace?"  
He looked up at Nines with a smile. "Markus gave it to me after I escaped from Stratford Tower."  
"According to several articles, he spared you despite this "North's" suggestion. Is that right?"  
"Yep." He chuckled. "Look, I know Markus can be kind of intimidating at first glance, but he's actually really sweet and always puts others first."  
Nines nodded. "How come his eyes don't match? Was that a feature of his unique model?"  
"Actually, no." Simon gently grabbed the pendant, taking a deep breath before continuing. "He was left in a junkyard shortly after deviating. He was severely damaged and had to take parts from other dead and dying androids in order to escape. He didn't get into specifics when he told me, and I didn't want him to."  
"Oh." He looked back at the floor of the taxi.  
Simon let go of the pendant and put a hand on Nines' shoulder, making a mental note of how he visibly stiffened. "Nervous?"  
"Y-yeah," he admitted.  
"Well, I don't blame you. Meeting new people can be intimidating. But believe me when I say--"  
Simon was cut off by the taxi chiming that they'd reached their destination. He paid, and the two of them got out.  
"When you say what?"  
"Believe me when I say that they're gonna like you. You'll be fine." He smiled warmly and grabbed Nines' hand, gently leading him toward the old church. "C'mon."

\-------------------

It was easy to find them.  
Josh had been in stasis on a pew near the front, and North had been arguing with one of the 2 or 3 damaged Jerrys that stayed here about rA9-knows-what.  
Josh had been indifferent about Nines being here but regarded him politely, which was more than North could say.  
The aforementioned female had given him the cold shoulder, going between ignoring him and telling him he wasn't welcome here before telling Simon that it was a mistake to bring him here.  
Simon glared at her. "North, Nines did nothing wrong. There's no reason to treat him like this."  
"He's another deviant hunter like Connor. Just look at his model," she snarled in an almost animal-like way, giving Nines a shove. "We can't trust him!"  
Nines' LED turned red, and he looked visibly hurt. North, in her anger, didn't bother to notice and continued to verbal and partially physical assault.  
"You don't belong here. I can't understand why Connor wouldn't just leave you to die."  
"North, that's enough!" Markus shouted from the double-doored entrance.  
But North wasn't done. She grabbed Nines by the collar and pulled him closer until their faces were inches apart. "You are worth nothing. You are nothing. And you are a disgrace to androids as a whole."  
Markus pushed her away from Nines. "North, I said enough." He turned back to Nines. "Are you okay?"  
Nines didn't respond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nines needs a hug omggggg


	4. Calmest Before The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hank and Connor have a nice chat, and Sumo gets fed.

The quarter fell to the floor with a quiet little metallic thud and went rolling across the kitchen, spinning and coming to a stop just by the doorway.  
Connor sighed and stood up from his chair to retrieve it. "Hey, Hank?"  
"Yeah?" he answered, not looking up from the book he was reading.  
"I never told you what happened at the warehouse. Would you still like me to tell you now that you're fully awake?"  
"Sure."  
Connor kneeled down and picked up the quarter, pocketing it and turning to Hank. "There was an RK900 unit. He was built completely save for an arm and a leg, and just left there."  
"Jesus Christ," Hank muttered. "Anything else?"  
"He seemed rather nervous, come to think of it. He didn't speak unless spoken to, and even then, he kept his words to a minimum. He stuttered when asked if he was okay after spacing out. He hesitated before testing his leg functions. He seemed like he was 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑, Hank. Cold!"  
"And?"  
"Well, Simon says--"  
"Simon says, huh?" Hank snickered at his own stupid joke.  
Connor rolled his eyes. "Hank, really?"  
"Yep." Hank took a drink of his coffee.  
Connor sighed. "Nevermind. Would you like to meet him later?"  
"Sure. Why not? Already met a shit-ton of these guys, what's the problem with meeting one more?"  
He put his hands in his pockets. "Well, I wouldn't want to overwhelm you, especially with all that's been happening recently."  
"Con, it's fine."  
Connor felt something rubbing against his leg. He looked down to see it was the myth, the dog, the legend: Sumo.  
He kneeled down and pet the St. Bernard. "Hey, there, boy. Who's a good boy?" he cooed.  
Hank chuckled, smiling a bit as Connor stood up and put food in Sumo's bowl. "I think Sumo likes you more than he likes me."  
"That's ridiculous! What's not to like about you?" He shot Hank a grin.  
"I'm a human garbage bag!"  
Connor gasped in mock offense. "How dare you?" he asked, beginning to laugh.  
He'd been laughing more and more over the past few weeks, and Hank had grown to like the sound more and more each time he did. It was just so beautifully _Connor_.  
Of course, he'd never admit it. It was way too cheesy.  
But he didn't need to. Connor understood with every smile Hank gave him after.


	5. Hide And Seek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nines plays a game with a new friend of his.

"4002... 4003..." Nines caught the tennis ball he'd been playing catch with. "4004. Taegan, we've been doing this for quite a while. Aren't you bored?"  
The BL100 shrugged, chocolate brown eyes blinking a few times before she gestured for Nines to throw the ball back to her. "No, not really." She tucked a lock of her golden hair behind her ear and caught the tennis ball, tossing it to a Jerry. "But if you're over it, we can find something else."  
"I got nothing," he replied with a shrug. "Do you have any ideas?"  
"Well, there is a game that Casey and I used to play." After seeing the confused expression Nines had, she added, "Casey was the son of my owner. Although my protocols didn't have anything for children, he taught me a lot."  
Nines simply nodded. "And what was this game?"  
"He called it Find Me, but after a bit of research, I found the proper name was Hide and Seek."  
He quickly scanned through the database, coming across an AX400 protocol for this game and approximately 40 other children's games. He further analyzed the details before downloading the protocols, flagging it as important. All of this took a few nanoseconds, and he silently thanked his rapid processers for avoided any awkward lapses in conversation. "Seems like fun."  
"I count, you hide?" Taegan couldn't keep herself from grinning now, the glee of old memories clear in her eyes.  
Nines nodded and rushed off to find a place to hide while Taegan faced the wall, covered her eyes, and began counting.

\--------------

"15, 16, 17--"  
"Taegan, have you seen Nines?" Markus' voice interrupted her counting.  
She stopped counting and shook her head. "We're playing Hide and Seek, sorry."  
"It's fine. I apologize for interrupting your game." Markus began looking around for the RK900, eventually finding him behind a storage bin where they were keeping spare parts for the damaged androids.  
"Oh, hello, Markus!"  
Markus rolled his eyes. "I don't think it's safe for you here."  
"What do you mean?" His LED flickered a dandelion yellow, confusion written on his face.  
"North is obviously very aggressive toward you. She's more than capable of murder, and there's always a chance she'll snap when nobody's looking. I can't take that chance, especially since..." The older android trailed off, only speaking again when Nines knocked on the storage container to get his attention.  
"The point is," he continued. "You can't stay here."  
"I... I have nowhere to go."  
"Give me your arm."  
Nines held out his arm, and Markus grabbed onto it, the artificial skin fading from his hand.  
He'd given Nines an address.  
"Go there and stay there until Simon comes to get you. By then we'll have found a proper place for you."  
Nines was in awe. He hadn't done anything special in the 19 hours he'd been activated. He didn't deserve to be protected, let alone be given a place to stay. "T-thank you, Markus...." He smiled a bit, not sure how to further express his gratitude.  
Markus seemed to understand the deeper sentiment, returned with a simple smile that had an equal amount of kindness behind it.


	6. A New Home (At Least Temporarily)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nines arrives.

Connor and Hank were on the couch, watching an old movie. Connor's head rested on Hank's shoulder, and Hank's arm was wrapped around his waist. Sumo lie curled up on the floor in front of them, fast asleep.  
They'd been like that for a while. Connor could calculate the exact time without any effort, but he much preferred the happy calm to the blankness of analyzation.  
_𝘙𝘪𝘪𝘪𝘯𝘨_!  
It was the doorbell.  
Hank sighed and let go of Connor, getting up. "Who the hell--?"  
Connor wirelessly paused the movie, gently pulling Hank back down onto the couch and getting up himself. "I got it, Hank."  
He went to the door, opening it.  
"Hello, Connor."  
The android in question did a double-take. "Nines?"  
Nines nodded.  
"What are you doing here?" The question could have easily been harsh. Connor had no obligation to let him in, nor even keep the door open long enough for him to answer. However, it was posed in a friendly way, and he kept the door open.  
"Markus told me to come here. He said it wasn't safe for me in the church." The newer model looked down at his feet, guilt saturating his tone.  
"Well, you can tell us all about it later. For now, let's get you out of the rain." Connor stepped aside to let Nines in and ran to the bathroom to get a towel so he could dry himself off.

\---------------

"That sounds horrible! North had no excuse to say those things!"  
"That Taegan chick seemed nice," Hank commented. "Hide and Seek, though? Seriously?"  
"Hank, be nice," Connor corrected him with a bit of a scolding tone. "If those are the games that Nines enjoys, then those are the games he enjoys." He glanced over at Nines, who sat at the opposite end of the couch, knees drawn to his chest and hugging himself. Connor got a bit closer to Nines and put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"  
Nines nodded, LED spinning yellow. _𝘐'𝘮 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵..._ He trailed off, unable to find the right words.  
Connor hadn't used his wireless communication in a while, but he was able to quickly send a reply. _𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵, 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴._ He held out his hand. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵.  
Nines' eyes flickered from Connor's hand to his face, then his hand again. _𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨._  
 _𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰. 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵._ He let his hand drop to his side. 𝘐 _'𝘮 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯._  
Nines nodded and turned his attention to the movie.  
“How long do you think he's gonna be here?” Hank asked, glancing in the RK900's direction.  
“I'll likely be here for a week, maybe two, considering the mess that Detroit is right now. They're still picking up the pieces from the revolution.” He narrowed his eyes slightly at Hank. “Please don't talk like I'm not here.”  
Hank nodded. “Sorry.”  
“It's fine.”  
Sumo stood up and laid his head in Nines' lap, whimpering a bit to get his attention. It worked somewhat, seeing as Nines began to absentmindedly pet him.


	7. Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor has a nightmare, and Hank and Nines are involved.

𝘙𝘌𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘛 𝘚𝘜𝘊𝘊𝘌𝘚𝘚𝘍𝘜𝘓

Connor's eyes opened. He was on his back, looking up at the sky.  
Clouds loomed over like mourners dressed in black at a funeral, crying sorrowful tears of rain over the desolate landscape; the grave.   
Connor slowly, cautiously sat up and rose to his feet, sparing a glance at the scene around him.  
Lightning flashed. A dead android lay there; the deviant from Stratford Tower, in fact.  
Connor instinctively covered his thirium pump regulator and drew in a breath, eyes widening with fear when he saw red roses blooming from the bullet holes piercing his torso.  
He took several steps back. At his feet lie Daniel, the deviant from his first mission. He'd taken a little girl named Emma hostage, and once Emma was safe, had been shot by snipers. Roses also grew from his wounds, thorny vines wrapping themselves around his body.  
Ever since he'd found Kamski's emergency exit and narrowly avoided shooting Markus in front of thousands of androids, Connor associated roses with Amanda, only making the memories that much more painful. he was horrified and wanted to focus his attention on something, anything else, but... well, you know what they say about bad car wrecks.  
"Hello, Connor," an all too familiar voice said from behind him.  
Connor froze. "A... Amanda?" His voice came out much quieter and shakier than he would've liked had he been in a position to care.  
"I'm so glad to see you. You've done well, you know."  
He hesitated a moment before replying. "You really think so?"  
"Of course. You helped Markus win."  
Connor finally turned around to face her. She had a welcoming smile on her face, not unlike the one she'd given during their first few conversations.  
"How's your relationship with the Lieutenant developing? You spoke fondly of him before."  
Connor flushed a pale blue.   
Amanda chuckled and took a few steps closer, putting her hands on Connor's shoulders. "Maybe you should rethink your connection with him."  
"How so?"  
"Well," she began, letting go of him and beginning to slowly but purposefully circle around him. A shark ready to spill blood in the water. "He's human. Unstable. He's held a gun to you before, who's to say he won't do it again?"  
Connor's LED cycled sickly yellow, yellow, yellow, then a threatening red. "Hank would never-- he..." He turned his head away to avoid Amanda's gaze. "He loves me. He'd never hurt me."  
"Connor..." She reached out and put a hand on his cheek, turning him to face her again. "I only say this because it's true."  
"Amanda--"  
She cut him off. "I only want what's best for you, Connor, and it would be better for everyone if you cut ties with Anderson." Her words were sharp and cold, the icicles on each syllable nearly tangible. "Nines, too."  
Connor's eyes widened and he took a step backward. "Nines is a good guy. A little naive, maybe, but a good guy."  
"Which is exactly why you should watch out. He's faster and stronger, with even more combat and weaponry protocols.. If he were to fall into the wrong hands, he could be used to destroy every single deviant in Detroit, maybe even more."  
"Stop it, Amanda!" Desperation was clear in his voice and mannerisms, tears threatening to spill over as he backed away further from Amanda. "He'd.... he'd never."  
Amanda took another step forward, and Connor fell backward onto the ground, looking up at the woman with teary, panicked eyes.  
"Connor, I'm only trying to help you." She glanced over to the side, where Nines now stood.  
He held a gun.  
Amanda walked away, leaving the two RK units to stand and stare at each other.  
"N-nines, you wouldn't hurt us... right?"  
He stared blankly at Connor, pointing the gun at him. "I am a machine designed to destroy all deviants, and that's exactly what I intend to do."  
He pulled the trigger, a gunshot echoing around the barren wasteland as the ground took on a cobalt blue hue.

 

Connor awoke with a red LED and a scream.


	8. Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hank helps calm Connor down, and Nines thinks a bit.

Nines snapped out of pseudo-stasis, audio processors picking up a terrified scream from Hank and Connor's room. He quickly got to his feet and, stepping over Sumo, made his way to said room. He had his hand on the doorknob and was about to open the door, but stopped.  
"Connor, are you okay?" Hank's voice was a hushed, yet panicked tone.  
"I... I--" Connor's voice trembled and dropped in volume, just barely loud enough to hear. "I had a nightmare."  
Nines let go of the doorknob and turned to leave. Nothing was wrong, a nightmare was just a nightmare; it wasn't real. There was no legitimate danger in a--  
"Do you wanna talk about it?"  
He decided he'd listen for a bit longer. It might not have been the most polite thing to do, but he was sure they'd forgive him for being curious if they found out and had a problem with it.  
He sat down cross-legged and leaned his head against the wall, looking up at the ceiling and just listening.  
"It..." Connor took a few deep breaths. "It was about Amanda. She... she--" He burst into tears once more, shouting his next words as a result of having to force them out. "She said that you were gonna try and kill me!"  
Startled, uncomfortable silence hung heavy in the air. Nines could only wait for one or the other to speak again, an unpleasant throbbing in his thirum pump regulator keeping him on edge.  
"Connor... You know I'd never hurt you, right? You know that."  
Connor sobbed and hiccuped a bit, voice going back to a tender whisper. "I know that, but.... she pointed out what happened on the bridge back in November."  
"Connor, I love you. I would never, ever pull a stunt like that again. Ever. Okay?"  
He sniffled a little. "O-okay." A slight rustling of sheets, meaning he'd shifted his weight. "I love you, Hank. So much."  
Connor's voice was slightly muffled. There was a 93% chance he was hugging Hank as he said this.  
"I love you, too. Now, is there anything else you want to talk about, or do you feel better?"  
"T-there is one more thing... Amanda said we shouldn't trust Nines."  
"Connor, he's done nothing wrong. You said it yourself. And remember, it's a nightmare. The entire point of a nightmare is to scare you and possibly make you paranoid."  
Nines had been aware of that, but it still hurt to hear Connor sound so scared saying his name. To know that Connor might not trust him.  
Almost-strangers or not, knowing his code, his appearance, his 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 was based off of Connor made him feel a connection to the RK800. Like he needed to make him feel safe, needed to make him happy, needed to make him feel loved.  
But it was wrong. He already had Hank for that.  
And so he decided, in that little moment, he'd express these feelings as delicately as he could. Simply knowing that Hank was comforting him was enough for the time being. He could manage.  
"I know, but... He shot me. In the dream. Right after Amanda implied he'd destroy all deviants."  
A quiet sigh.  
"You're aware it's just a dream, right?"  
"Uh-huh."  
"And you know that I'll do anything to keep you safe, right?"  
"Uh-huh."  
Nines smiled at that.  
"So you know that if he starts acting suspicious, you can tell me and I'll deal with it."  
"Thank you, Hank."  
Hank chuckled. "You're welcome."  
Nines got to his feet again and went back out to the living room, where Sumo was now asleep on the couch. He giggled to himself and began petting him.  
When Sumo began to stir, he knelt down and whispered, "Hey, big fella, you wanna give me a little room?"  
Sumo slowly stood and hopped onto the floor, watching as Nines laid back down before getting back on the couch and curling up at his feet.  
Nines smiled and went back into stasis.


	9. Robbie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taegan talks with Robbie.

The same rainy night, those staying in the church spoke in delicate whispers, as if the words would shatter if not handled with care.  
They very well may have, Taegan said to herself as she stood up and walked across the church, pushing open a door and heading into the back.  
Her Cyberlife-issued shoes clacked loudly against the hardwood floor and echoed, seeing as it was painfully empty back here.  
Nobody had really planned on staying here for very long, and so nobody went back here and secured the equivalent of a bedroom.  
Except for a pristine few, however. No plan to leave, nowhere to go anyway. No friends, mostly. Robbie was one of the exceptions.  
Who was exactly who she was going to talk to.  
She stood in front of the door and knocked. "Robbie?"  
Slowly, the door opened.  
The WR600 smiled. "Hey, Taegan." His messy blonde hair peeked out from under his purple beanie, as usual, and his orange sweater and ripped blue jeans were smudged with dirt. His sneakers, while old and worn, were clean in comparison.  
"Again?"  
He nodded, and Taegan smiled back. "Can I come in?"  
"Of course!" He chuckled and stepped aside, Taegan walking in and going over to the planting container on the floor.  
He'd nailed chicken wire to the wall and planted morning glories underneath. They were growing quickly, having already begun to climb up the wire.  
A quick scan showed that the display consisted of Ipomoea alba, more commonly known as moonflower, Ipomoea nil (Japenese morning glory) and Kikyo snowflakes, a rarer type of the previously listed.  
Leave it to Robbie to be able to concoct such a mix.  
"These are beautiful," she whispered. "Where'd you get them?"  
He smiled widely. "My friend Ralph gave me the seeds."  
"Oh, him. How's he doing, anyway?"  
Robbie shrugged. "He's a lot happier, that's all I can say for sure."  
Taegan nodded. "That's good."  
"Enough about me, and enough about him. How are you doing?"  
"Oh, I made a new friend today."  
"Really? Who was it?"  
Taegan smiled. "His name is Nines. He's part of the RK series like Markus and Connor, and he's just really sweet."  
"I'd like to meet him." Robbie pulled off his beanie, ran his fingers through his hair, and put it back on. "Where is he?"  
"He left. Markus says that he wasn't safe here, so he gave him a place to go."  
"Oh." Robbie walked over to his makeshift hammock and lied down, staring up at the ceiling. "Is he gonna be coming back?"  
"I hope so. He reminds me of Casey too much for me not to miss him," she muttered, melancholy.  
"Hm."  
"Well, I'm gonna go now. Have fun with your flowers."  
"I will." Robbie gave her a grin. "Have a great night."  
Taegan nodded and left, closing the door behind her.


	10. The Second Hit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nines just wants to be helpful, but Gavin is not having it.

  
Connor and Hank had work in the morning, and since they couldn't decide what else to do, they decided to bring Nines along.  
After some explaining, Fowler had no problem with it. They were understaffed anyway, and Nines could only do good.  
On Nines' hand, the morning had consisted of cleaning faded thirium off of a cell window, general tidying up, helping Chris type up a few reports, and filling out some paperwork for Collins, who was dyslexic and always appreciated having some extra help.  
Once completing these tasks, he wanted to continue being helpful, which is how he ended up in the break room with Detective Reed and Officer Chen.  
"Your coffee, Detective Reed." Nines set the cup on the table, eyes widening when the response he got was the coffee he'd just made being splashed onto him.  
He blinked a few times, trying to understand what just happened, but was broken out of his thoughts when he was grabbed by the collar and pulled in close, just like North had done.  
"Stay out of my way, or else."  
The Detective left the room and Chen gave Nines an apologetic look, to which he simply nodded and got some napkins to clean up the coffee as best as he could.  
Why had Gavin done that? Did he do something wrong?  
Maybe he just wasn't fast enough or didn't make the coffee right. Either way, it was still a very rude and illogical response.  
Then again, logic went out the window for some people.  
After the coffee situation was managed, Nines found himself standing near the observation room, eyes closed, hands folded and rocking on his heels a bit like some sort of idle subroutine, waiting for someone to ask him for help with something or something to happen to break the boredom that was slowly seeping into his systems like a virus of the worst kind.  
During the time he stood there, he'd associated boredom with the color maroon and had put his processors at ease by simply deciding Gavin was an illogical person.  
On the other hand, he was a good detective and clearly knew what he was doing with his job. Nobody could have gotten as far as he did without some form of logic...  
"Nines?"  
He stopped rocking and opened his eyes to look at Connor.  
"Tina told me what Gavin did. Are you okay?"  
Nines nodded. "I'm not damaged, and I'm not distressed. I'm fine."  
"Are you sure?"  
Nines nodded again.  
"Okay. We're about done here. Want me to call a cab to take you home?"  
He shook his head. "It'd make more sense if I simply waited and left when you and Hank left."  
"But do you _want_ to go home?"  
Nines thought it over. "I'm fine."  
Connor nodded. "Okay. Would you like to come into the observation room with me? Hank, Fowler and I have been discussing a new case."  
"Huh." Nines shrugged. "There's no harm in it."  
The right corner of Connor's mouth twitched upward; a smile. Held back, of course, but a smile nonetheless.

Knowing Connor appreciated his coming along made a pleasant warmth in Nines' chest, and he happily followed Connor into the aforementioned observation room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter!


	11. Sorry....

I'm sorry.

I'm officially ending this story.

If any of y'all wanna pick up where I left off, feel free, but I just can't do it.

 

Uh.... go check out my other story, I guess. I actually write stuff for that one, and I'd like it to get more attention.

 

Though I doubt it'll appeal to the same audience, it'd still make my day if you gave it a read.

-MolliWolf


End file.
